


Steven McGarrett, Hero to All

by MDJensen



Category: Hawaii Five-0 (2010)
Genre: Danny overthinks everything, Disney Movies, Gen, Steve just wants to be loved, not actually intended as crack, sofa snuggles
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-02-22
Updated: 2018-02-22
Packaged: 2019-03-22 09:22:30
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,596
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/13761081
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/MDJensen/pseuds/MDJensen
Summary: Danny and Steve watch a movie with the kids. Danny ends up having way too many emotions about it.Written after 7x25 but not set at any particular point. Probably will not make sense if you haven't seenMoana.





	Steven McGarrett, Hero to All

Forty years old and he’s not afraid to admit it: Danny Williams loves this stupid movie. He just does.

It’s not the movie itself-- though it is in fact more tolerable than the usual Disney stuff. He loves it because Grace loves it. Because Grace will actually put down her phone when it’s on, and sing along and be his little girl again for two whole hours.

Not that she’ll admit it. More often than not, she’ll whisper for a moment to her brother before announcing that Charlie wants to watch Moana. But once the DVD is in, she’s hooked.

Danny’s not quite sure why; he suspects, though, that it might in fact have to do with Charlie after all. Not necessarily because he likes it. But because he often can be found pointing at Moana, crowing, _that’s Sissy!_ And Grace smiles shyly, and tosses her head.

Danny sees where Charlie gets it, though it takes him a moment; there are, after all, plenty of princesses that resemble his daughter more, physically. But it’s Grace’s spirit Charlie sees in Moana: her bravery, her compassion.

Or maybe that’s giving the five-year-old too much credit, because he also likes to point at the little pink pig and squeal, _that’s me! That’s me!_

At least he’s not the moron chicken.

In the end, Danny’s surprised that Steve escapes the movie for as long as he does. He’s around more than ever now, which is saying something. It started after the liver thing. But now with the radiation sickness, and with Chin and Kono leaving, it’s amplified times ten. He just can’t stand being alone.

So of course, eventually, he’s there when Grace and Charlie produce their favorite DVD. Steve smiles. He says he’s meant to watch it anyway, and hunkers down next to Danny, wrapped up snug in the living room afghan. (He’s not having an actual spell tonight, thank god. But his stomach’s a little bit funky and it seems to have given him the chills, not to mention the clingies.)

Grace starts the movie. She and Charlie splay out on the floor, but that doesn’t last long; Charlie’s back on his feet as soon as the Moana appears. He scampers to Steve and whacks his leg for attention.

“That’s Gracie!” he announces, waving towards the screen. Steve tilts his head to think.

“Yeah, okay. I can see it.”

Charlie climbs into Steve’s lap then. Danny watches to see if it’s too much for his stomach to take, but Steve just grins and cuddles the boy closer. They watch for a minute or two, until:

“ _That’s me!_ ” Charlie hollers, pointing at the pig. “Uncle Steve, that’s _me_!”

“Oh, that’s you?” Steve laughs; then he gets his arms around Charlie so the kid can’t escape and starts making pig noises into his shoulder. Charlie giggles, and tries to get free; Steve lets him. He flops back down on the floor next to Grace, and they both sing along to the first song. Soon they’re dancing too, as much as one can dance lying down. Seeing them both so relaxed, both so unfettered, does good things to Danny’s heart.

Then Charlie’s on his feet again, stomping. “That’s Danno!” he shouts, pointing at Moana’s dad.

Well, that’s new. In the past it’s only been Charlie and Grace who’ve been identified. It’s a logical enough extension, though, Danny supposes: if Grace is Moana, well, then he’s Moana’s dad.

Except Moana’s dad keeps pulling her back from the ocean, and Grace cackles.

“Yup, that’s Danno! When I wanted to learn how to surf!” She sits up and grabs her brother dramatically. “ _The ocean is dangerous, monkey!_ _Nobody goes beyond the reef!_ ”

Danny huffs. Steve cracks up at this, and slings his arm around Danny while Danny tries not to look too sulky. So he wanted to keep his little girl safe; sue him. The ocean is, in fact, very fucking dangerous, and he won’t apologize for protecting his kids from it. If that makes him the village stick-in-the-mud, whatever.

Only he’s never really paid attention before to the chief’s backstory, usually tuned out to the movie itself by now, eyes just for his kids. But this time he tracks his character, hoping he’s portrayed favorably overall.

He’s not really prepared-- at _all_ \-- when Moana’s mom explains to her why her dad’s so afraid of the ocean: that he watched his best friend drown. Danny’s guts go tight, and his toes go cold. And what’s worse, Steve tugs him closer, obviously picking up on the parallels too, and the comfort makes Danny want to sob a little.

Damnit. The kids doesn’t know anything about Billy, never will, most likely, so they have no idea that this actually really hurts. To think how different he’d be now, if Billy were still alive. Does some of his overprotectiveness come from watching somebody drown at such a formative age? Of course it does, and he knows it. He spent a lot of his life being the kid whose best friend died, and it made him sadder and angrier, more mature and yet more reckless than the other kids at school--

No. No, no, nope. He is not going to get upset because a freaking Disney movie reminded him of something that happened well over twenty years ago. He’s made his peace with Billy’s death, as much as he ever will, anyway. What was a daily, gnawing ache well through his teens and into his twenties is now a twinge that comes every once in a while, and a toast given alone twice a year: the day Billy was born, and the day he died. He hasn’t forgotten, but he’s got it stashed safely.

God, but Steve won’t stop _cuddling_ him.

Danny gets to his feet, goes into the kitchen and puts some water on his face. Then, as an alibi, he makes popcorn. When he comes back the kids pounce on it, and Steve thinks a second before taking a small handful too, and everything seems back to normal. Danny sinks into the sofa and enjoys his kids’ excitement. For a while the living room is full of nothing but the soundtrack of the movie and the crunching of popcorn.

Then Steve shifts beside him. Danny looks over and sees him wincing, probably having pushed his stomach a little too far with all the fake-ass butter. Scowling, Danny tucks an arm around his shoulders, like Steve had done earlier for him.

Steve grunts and curls up against him, smooshing his face into Danny’s chest and rubbing fretfully at his own belly. “We can pause it,” Danny whispers.

“It’s fine,” Steve mumbles back. “Not that bad.”

Danny thinks about arguing but doesn’t; if it gets really bad, it’s not like he won’t realize.

Moana’s on the ocean now. Charlie is screaming with laughter at the stupid chicken, and Grace is tickling him and throwing popcorn at him, making him laugh all the harder. Then the boat wrecks. A giant shadow creeps towards Moana, as he hides behind the boat; then Maui appears.

Charlie shrieks, and kicks his legs in the air. “That's Uncle Steve! Uncle Steve!”

He looks honestly confused when everyone else in the room bursts out laughing.

“Uncle Steve doesn’t have hair, buddy,” Danny reminds him, still chuckling.

“The tattoos are right, though!” Grace chimes in.

“This is my favorite movie now,” Steve says, sitting up a little. “Maui made Hawaii, did you know that? He pulled up the ocean floor with his fishhook.”

“Te Fiti made all the islands,” Grace argues, which gets Steve started on the varying mythologies of different Polynesian cultures and how, apparently, Te Fiti isn’t a character in any of them. Grace listens raptly.

“And he lassoed the sun,” Steve is saying, “and bargained with it for longer days-- oh, there you go,” he notes, as onscreen Maui, singing, mentions this exactly. “Hey, this is great. Buddy, are you watching this?”

“Mm-hm,” Danny hums. “Charlie, why does Uncle Steve get to be Maui? Why aren’t you Maui?”

“’cause he’s a hero,” Charlie replies, like it’s obvious, and the only thing that keeps Danny from getting a little pissy at this is the look that comes over Steve’s face at this: half pained, half proud.

“Ah. Well, he’s definitely got the bragging covered,” Danny quips, nudging Steve with his elbow. That’s not entirely true but, to be fair, half the stuff Steve has done is classified anyway. Still, he does think he’s pretty hot shit.

Okay, fine, so Steve’s the demi-god. Danny’s the paranoid, dead-best-friend dad.

Fine.

He’s not going to let it get to him, though, because the three people he cares about most are all gathered in his living room. Grace’s phone is nowhere to be seen. Charlie is sprawled on the carpet like he’s lived here his whole life-- which is definitely not something that would have happened a year ago-- and Steve is tucked up at his side again, his head back on Danny’s shoulder.

Everyone’s here, and everyone’s safe. Mostly safe, at any rate, even if Steve is feeling sick again; a few months ago he’d’ve been locked in the bathroom with his head in the toilet, so just having a stomachache is an improvement anyway, right?

Anyway, Maui’s kind of a putz, so really it’s perfect.

The movie continues. Danny can’t pinpoint the exact moment at which Steve falls asleep, but when the chicken does something stupid again and Charlie lets out a particularly loud laugh, Grace tugs him close and shushes him gently.

“Don’t wake Uncle Steve up,” she whispers. Danny looks down to find that his friend is, in fact, fast asleep, and Danny’s definitely not surprised but he is kind of-- stupidly fond of him, in that moment. It takes trust, falling asleep on somebody’s shoulder. That kind of trust is not to be taken lightly.

Anyway, onscreen, Grace and Steve-- sorry, Moana and Maui-- are climbing some scary-looking cliff to get to the realm of monsters. Which does sound like something Steve would do, really. Charlie’s bouncing in Grace’s lap (though quietly) because the giant flamboyant crab is coming, and Charlie loves the giant flamboyant crab.

Danny doesn’t. He’s learned to bop along to most of the music but he can’t get behind this one, and he wishes Steve were awake just so he had another grown-up in the room to roll his eyes at. But Steve’s still out. His breathing is deep, and even, and he’s heavy against Danny’s side in the way only a sleeping person can be. Danny pulls him a little closer.

The crab’s doing his thing, Charlie whisper-shouting the words along with him, flinging his arms open wide, smacking Grace’s chin once or twice. Danny bites back his laugher, loathe to jostle Steve. The GFC traps Moana/Grace, and then the key changes along with the lighting, and the GFC starts taunting Maui/Steve.

And Danny’s heart sinks.

Because what the GFC says is this:

_Far from the ones who abandoned you… chasing the love of these humans who made you feel wanted… you try to be tough, but your armor’s just not hard enough…_

And-- damnit. God freaking damnit. He is not going to get sad about Steve’s psyche because of a song in a Disney movie sung by the fucking GFC.

Only, apparently, he is.

Two for two tonight, and it’s safe to say this is not what he expected when Grace popped in the DVD.

That’s Steve, though. That’s just Steve to a fucking T. Jesus, has anybody ever craved affection as much as his stupid, stunted partner? He can’t think of anyone, _honestly_. And it’s ridiculous, it’s beyond ridiculous, but he looks at the TV screen and sees muscles and tattoos and abandonment issues, heroism for the sake of the greater good but still this underlying hunger for a pat on the back--

And then he looks down at Steve, still curled up against his shoulder. Steve who’s too pale, Steve who’s lost weight, Steve who’s in more pain than he’ll ever admit to but who would still do literally anything that he could if that thing needed doing.

Oh, fuck it. This wasn’t how he saw the night going at all.

He wants Steve to be okay; wants it so badly it hurts.

So he buries his face in Steve’s hair and just sort of snuggles him for the rest of the movie.

Eventually the credits roll. Charlie gives a happy, sleepy chirp, and stretches out on the carpet while Grace shuts off the movie. Then Grace looks back at Danny and Steve, and smiles. “I’ll get Charlie ready for bed,” she offers. “So Uncle Steve can sleep a little more. He looked tired tonight.”

“Thanks, monkey,” Danny replies, smiling back at her as they leave. It’s for Steve’s sake, sure, but he’s honestly not looking forward to the moment that Steve wakes up, either.

Unfortunately that moment comes soon. Be it from the abruptness of the silence or for no real reason at all, Steve begins to stir, briefly pressing tighter against Danny’s shoulder before at last he sits back.

“You saved the world,” Danny tells him.

Steve snuffles a little, and rubs his face. “’sall I wanted t’do.”

“Yeah, I know.”

“She makes it home safe? Moana?”

“It’s a Disney movie, babe,” Danny laughs. “Yes, she made it home safe.”

“Mm. Where’re th’ kids?”

“Grace is getting Charlie ready. We wanted to let you get a few more minutes in.”

“Thanks,” Steve says, and yawns enormously. “’m gonna say goodnight to them, and I’ll get going.”

“Don’t be a moron,” Danny sniffs. “You know you’re crashing here.”

“Yeah?”

It’s not like he wouldn’t’ve told Steve to stay anyway, but it feels even more urgent now with that little voice at the back of his head talking about how Steve just wants to be loved. Stupid GFC.

“Yeah,” Danny says, trying to sound casual about it. “It’s Saturday tomorrow. Gonna sleep in, make pancakes. You can even tell me when to flip ‘em, but you get no say in the fillings.”

Steve smiles, looking tired but genuinely content.

“How’s your stomach?” Danny asks, as they stand.

“Better. Slept it off.”

“Good. Okay. Go say goodnight, then; I’m just gonna run the dishwasher.”

“’kay. Hey, you okay?”

“Yeah. Why?”

“No reason.” He stretches a little, ends with his hands on his hips. “Just. You’re a hero too, buddy. You know that, right?”

Of course Steve’s focused on that. That was an hour ago. He should really know by now that Danny finds something new to be upset about every five minutes.

“You go ahead and be the hero, Steven,” he sniffs. “I’m happy being the dad.”

“You’re plenty good at being both.”

“Christ, you are thinking too much about this,” Danny moans, opening his hands in supplication. The irony’s not lost on him, but for his part Steve lets it go. “Go get ready for bed, Steven McGarrett. Navy SEAL, hero to all.”

Steve does a weird little hip shake. Danny thinks he might start singing, but he doesn’t, thank god.

“’night, Danno.”

“Don’t say goodnight to me now, I’m gonna come say goodnight to all of you after I do the dishes.”

“Okay. See you in a minute, Danno.” And off he goes.

And Danny goes in and does the dishes like he promised to, with songs about voyaging, and bright CGI water, and how much he loves his best friend all mushed together, playing again and again in his head.

**Author's Note:**

> This is what happens with you watch _Moana_ three times in two days. Gah. Hope you enjoy :)
> 
> If any of my lovely Musketeers friends are reading this, I swear I have not abandoned my chapter stories there! Just... procrastinating, I guess. As always.


End file.
